Rick Stegeman is a PhD candidate at the Utrecht University School of Governance. He is part of the research project 'Authoritative reputations of inspectorates in turbulent times'. He looks into the 'building blocks' of the reputations of regulatory agencies, being specifically interested in the moral reputation of regulators. While it is commonly accepted that regulators should cultivate a reputation for expertise and effectiveness, Rick aims to study how the audiences of regulators understand the moral aspects of regulation, as well as what regulators can do to cultivate a reputation for fairness. 

Before this, Rick worked as researcher for the Wiardi Beckman Stichting and as junior lecturer at Maastricht University. He completed a research master in Political Philosophy and Ethics (summa cum laude) at KU Leuven, a master in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (cum laude) at Leiden University, and a bachelor in Liberal Arts and Sciences (cum laude) at Maastricht University.